May 4

Judges 19:1-20:48, John 3:22-4:3, Psalms 104:24-35, Proverbs 14:22-24

Pray: This world is full of chaos, tragedy and hate. But You are a God who has defeated all of this and offers hope, love and forgiveness to those who are willing to accept You as Savior. Today, I pray for those who don’t know what true love is. I pray for those that need some hope and need some love. Father, would You give those in need of You the most, the chance to see today that there is a God who loves them and wants to have a meaningful and deep relationship with them? And Lord, today may be the day that I get to be that person who offers that love and grace to someone… I pray for a willingness to share and be Your hands and feet in this crazy, mixed up world… May people see Christ in and through me. Amen.

Read: The chaos and calamity continue today as we read about how Israel continues to want to do life on their own which leads them to war with the tribe of Benjamin. In the New Testament, we hear more from John the Baptist regarding Jesus and his understanding of who Jesus is as well as his own admission that he (John) is not as great as Jesus but both are called to their particular ministry work.

Edify: You and I are each called to our own work in the ministry as well. Did you know you were called to be a minister to others? You may be saying, I could never be a pastor… and that may be true, but we are all called to ministry of some sort. When Jesus told us to love our neighbors as ourselves, He was calling us to ministry. We are to serve others out of our love of Christ. At Christ Church, we believe that every person who enters the doors of the church is called into some sort of service to their fellow man. Some serve within the walls of the church through service in children’s ministry or on the hospitality team. Others serve outside of the walls of the church through our strategic partners. Whether your service is inside the walls or outside of the walls, whether it is directly connected to the church or not, we are all called to serve others. For some, it is your love of them without expectation of reciprocation that may draw them close to Christ. As followers of Christ, we are called to serve without expecting anything in return and this is one of the most powerful things that we can do… Serve without expectations.

Practice: Where in your life can you take the next step in serving without expectations?  If you aren’t serving somewhere in the life of the church… why not? There are tons of opportunities to get plugged into the life of the church and in serving your neighbor. Stop by the Connections desk for some more information about how you can get plugged in. If you are already serving, how can you take that service to the next level?